March 7, 2014
9:30am – 4:30pm
Wellesley College

Registration opens on December 16th

Where to start: Students looking to start a student group on their campus

What’s working: Sharing stories of success

First Gen as an Identity: Intersections with other identities

Faculty and Staff: How can we help? What are the trends?

Campus Organizing and Activism: Moving from ideas to action

Campuses are strongly encouraged to send a cohort from their school of – typically 3-7 students and 1-2 non-student allies (staff or faculty). There will be opportunities at the summit to learn from other campuses, network and connect with others and finally, work in small groups with your own campus cohort to develop action plans related to your own campuses. (Note: We will also provide opportunities for folks without a campus cohort to participate in planning).

The cost of the summit is free for students. Staff, faculty and individuals from non-profits can attend for $45. Co-hosts do not have to pay for non-student attendees.

If you are interested in volunteer or co-hosting opportunities, please send us an email.

History

Since 2004, Class Action has worked with first generation students to ease their transition to college. Through consultations and workshops on and within many campuses throughout the northeastern region of the U.S., Class Action has offered first gen students access to the materials, tools and networking opportunities necessary to thrive in a college environment. Class Action also works with campus administrations to identify obstacles to first gen and low-income students.

In 2012 , a graduate student at Brown University, took on organizing Class Action’s inaugural First Generation College Student Summit.The First Gen Student Summit serves as a site for the ‘meeting of the minds.’ First gen students and their allies come together to identify problems, discuss grassroots solutions and share what’s working on other campuses. First and foremost, we want to find solutions identified by students who can work with their staff, administrator and faculty allies. Class Action offers spaces where students can both identify these problems and build grassroots solutions to them.

Nearly 40 people from seven colleges were represented at the inaugural First Generation College Student Summit. In 2014, the summit attracted 125 people from 23 institutions. We look forward to expanding the schools represented by region and size this year. We hope you will join us for our 3rd! If you are interested in planning or being involved in the 2015 summit, please email Anne Phillips, anne@classism.org. Here’s a write-up from last year’s summit. For more pictures of the summit, please click here! Do you have an idea for a breakout session? Let us know here!